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Safety and Security in Douglas County Schools

CASTLE ROCK- Douglas County School District’s (DCSD) Safety and Security team is dedicated to keeping all students, employees, parents and community members safe. In order to maintain a safe environment, several measures are in place designed to protect our children in the event of an imminent threat to one of our schools or facilities.

“Security and mental health personnel provide training to teachers and school staff,” said Director of Safety and Security Rich Payne. “Additionally, students are taught what to expect during a lockdown and then participate in lockdown, fire, evacuation and shelter-in-place drills. Our purpose when we conduct drills is to make sure that everybody is successful. We go into every single classroom and we speak with the kids to make sure that they understand the importance of the drill.”

DCSD Security Resource Officers also undergo regular trainings and conduct regular security checks at schools, such as checking for locked doors and documenting these checks, to maintain strong safety standards at DCSD schools.

Additionally, Campus Safety Specialists are posted at each DCSD middle and high school. When students, parents, patrol officers, and other visitors come to these schools, they can easily identify Campus Safety Specialists, as they are uniformed in gray shirts with block letters marked “security.”

DCSD also has a mandatory reporting requirement, in which all DCSD employees are expected to report threats, suspicious behaviors, bullying or other activities in which they feel students or staff may be endangered. Students and the community are likewise key partners to report potential threats.

“We have two ways students and parents can report suspicious activity or a friend in crisis. Douglas County Sheriff’s Office offers Text-A-Tip, which is a two-way dialogue taught in the high schools. In our middle and elementary schools, students are taught to use Safe2Tell from the Colorado Attorney General’s office,” Payne said. “We have received tips through both programs that have helped avoid tragedies, as well as helped us connect with a student in crisis who may have been contemplating suicide.”

When it comes to safety and security, below are things Douglas County families should become familiar with, as well as actions they can take to partner with law enforcement and DCSD safety and security personnel.

Standard Response Protocol (SRP):

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is an emergency response plan for any scenario at a DCSD facility. All DCSD employees and students receive annual training. Parents and guardians should become familiar with the SRP, verbiage used and corresponding actions, as well, in the event an incident should occur at your child’s school.

1. Lockout - Action: Secure the perimeter.

A lockout occurs when there is a threat outside of the building. This can include police activity in the neighborhood, wildlife on school grounds or another threat outside of the school or nearby. Doors to the outside are locked and the perimeter is secured. Class is usually conducted as normal, with increased situational awareness.

2. Lockdown - Action: Lock, lights, out of sight.

Lockdown is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep students quiet and in place when there is a threat inside the facility. Teachers will lock classroom doors and turn lights out. Occupants of rooms will not unlock their rooms for anything or anyone. When the incident is over, a responsible person capable of unlocking the room from out in the hall (administrator, Law Enforcement, etc.) will unlock the door and brief the occupants.

3. Shelter - Action: Follow directions.

Shelter is the protocol usually used for weather events or hazardous materials on site. Specific instruction is given with the action. For example, instead of just announcing shelter, the command may be “Shelter for tornado, drop cover and hold.” The command will be to shelter, what we are sheltering from and the specific self protection action to do.

4. Evacuate - Action: Follow the directions.

Evacuate means moving students in an orderly fashion from point A to point B. A fire drill is really: “Evacuate Out of the Building.” With the SRP, Evacuate is always followed by a location. For instance: Evacuate to the Gym. The order to evacuate will always be followed by a location. Students and staff will leave belongings such as backpacks and books behind. In the case of an emergency, parents will receive notification from the Communications team, including instructions on where to pick up their children.

Text-a-Tip

In partnership with the law enforcement agencies of Douglas County, DCSD high school students can send an anonymous tip via a text message from their cell phone (the number to text is displayed on posters hanging in the school). The tips are completely secure and anonymous.

Safe2Tell

Dispatch

The DCSD Dispatch Communication Center serves as the primary point of contact for staff, DCSD stakeholders and outside agencies during and after normal business hours. It is staffed 24-hours a day and is a liaison for multiple law enforcement agencies and has the ability to grant access to all facilities remotely in the event of an emergency.

District News

Last month, the Board of Education passed a resolution tasking the Superintendent to convene a task force inclusive of members of the general public and staff members. This task force will develop a survey for parents of students eligible for special education services and a survey for staff members who serve students eligible for special education services.

CASTLE ROCK - On February 6, the Douglas County School District (DCSD) Board of Education confirmed its commitment to begin the process of seeking approval from voters for additional local funding.

“Our children need a bond and mill levy override (MLO) to be passed in 2018, beyond any doubt,” said DCSD Board of Education President David Ray. “We want to move forward immediately with the necessary processes and collaboration with our community in order to finalize a formal funding package.”

Eleven Douglas County School District schools have been named recipients of the 2017 John Irwin Schools of Excellence Awards. The John Irwin awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time. These schools received an "Exceeds Expectations" rating on the Academic Achievement indicator of the School Performance Frameworks reflecting exceptional performance in Math, English Language Arts, and Science.